Die Bettelmönche im Ostseeraum zur Zeit des Erzbischofs Albert Suerbeer von Riga (Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts)
The mendicants in the Baltic at the time of archbishop Albert Suerbeer of Riga (mid-13'h Century)

Summary/Abstract: Albert Suerbeer, the archbishop of Prussia, Livonia and Estonia, as well as Riga (1245- 1273), played a major role in the politics of North East Europe in the 1240s and 50s. His activities regarding the proselytisation of the pagans and the foundation of a church union with the Russian principalities brought him into conflict with the Teutonic Order. The present article deals with the role of the mendicant Orders in the course of these events. Historiography has often attributed a certain political attitude to individual Orders. In fact, however, it seems hardly possible to determine a uniform policy of the Dominicans and Franciscans in Livonia and Prussia, nor can a particular relationship between archbishop Albert Suerbeer and a given mendicant order or the mendicants in general be detected. The policy of the mendicant bishops and missionaries did not depend on their order but on the client relationships of that particular person, province or convent. While Suerbeer's proselytisation and power policy eventually yielded Utile success, the mendicant bishops he had appointed autonomously, out of personal interest, similarly failed to hold their ground. The competing Teutonic Order attained papal support more easily than the archbishop, thanks to its supraregional presence and comparative wealth. The behaviour of the mendicant Orders within the contradictory political constellations in the Eastern Baltic region around the middle of the 13th Century primarily reflected the social relations of individuals and groups, rather than a general policy of the orders.

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